Flour-treating apparatus



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ,gHl

TnUcnTon H annex 'R. H. GUERRANT FLOUR TREATING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 19, 1923 May 18 1926.

2 Sheets-Sheet Z R. H. GUERRANT FLOUR TREATING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 19. 1923 May 18 1926.

. ner more satisfactory Patented May' 18, 1926.

- UNITED STATES RUSSELL H. GUEBRANT,

ANCE COMPANY, OF CHIGAGO ILLINOIS,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO INDUSTRIAL APPLI- A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

FLOUR-TREATING APPARATUS.

Applicationnled September 19, 1923. Serial No. 663,610.

My invention relates to an apparatus for treating flour with a gaseous agent, such for example as chlorine gas or a mixture of chlorine and nitrosyl chlorid gases, for the purpose of improving the bakingquallties of theflour. According to this method of treatment the flour is showered through an atmosphere of the treating gas, highly div luted with air, and the success of the treat- 1 ment depends upon'so distributing the flour and the gaseous treating'agent in the treating chamber that the flour will be uniformly acted upon by the gas. That is to say, the gas must be under accurate control and proper proportions of it, highly diluted with air, must be thoroughly diffused throughout the treating chamber so that when the flour is showered from; the top to the bottom of the chamber all particles are uniformly treated. I r

The primary purpose of this invention is to provide a flour treating apparatus, or agitator, of novel and improved construction for accomplishing this object in a manthan has been heretofore possible.

Chlorine gas is 'corrosiveof certain metals, such as iron, steel. brass, and copper, particularly if there be any moisture present,

and if such corrosion is permitted, it is liable to injure or destroy the parts of t e apparatus' affected and besides bringing bout a contamination of the flour. Hence it is a further object of-the invention to construct auger 26 and a second auger of similar con-' the treating apparatus of materials not affected by this gas or to protect materials subject to corrosion so that these are not exposed to the gas. A further object is to provide a construction of the treating apparatus which allows the flour, to be continuously passed through the treating chamber without permitting the escape of the gaseous agent therefrom.

T e invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in a preferred embodiment which may be modified with respect to details of construction without departure from the principles of the invention.

:In the drawings- Fig. 1 is side view of the apparatus.

Fig. 2 's longitudinal sectional view thereof. Fig. 3 is a section'alplan, on an enlarged scale,taken on-line 33 of Fig.- 2: .Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in elevation,

. the feed hopper,

with parts in section, of the siphon fitting for, introducing air and gas into the treating chamber, and

Fig. 5 a. sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig.4.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates a metal shell reinforced at top and bottom by angle bar rings 11 and 12 and lined interiorly with a lining 13 composed, preferably, of cypress or cedar wood filled with pitch. At the bottom of the treating cham* ber thus formed is a conical collecting hopper 14 composed of hard rubber, which is held in place by a porcelain enameled iron discharge spout 28 braced to the shell 10 by struts ber is closed by a metal plate 16 under which is arranged an asbestos composition gasket 17. A feed hopper 18 projects nto an opening in the top plate 16. The feed hopper is porcelain enameled on its inner surface and also on the outer surface of the flange 19 thereof which projects into the treating chamber and forms a feed spout. -A shaft 20 extends through the treating chamber and through the shaft having a bearing at 21 on the feed hopper and a. bearing 22 on a spider 23 in the treating chamber near the bottom thereof. The shaft 20 is covered with a hard rubber covering 24 and bearing 22 is protected by a rubber dust cap 25.- Ar- 15. The top of the treating cham-.

ranged on shaft 20 within the flange 19 of the feed hopper is a porcelain enameled iron struction designated 27 is fixed to the shaft withi ydischarge spout 28 of the collecting hopper 14. The feed and discharge spouts are open from end to end except as they are sealed through action of the angers on the flour passing through said spout.

Fixed to shaft 20 directly below the upper feeding auger'26 is a hard rubber plate 29 and surrounding this plate is a ring 30 of hard rubber which is secured to and spaced from the wall of the treating chamber by asbestos blocks 31. At about the middle oint of the shaft 20 there is a distributing wheel 32 fixed to the'shaft and composed of cast iron covered with rubber. 33 is a I porcelain enameled grease pipe provided 34 and leading to the bearwith a grease cup the conical collecting hoping 22. Within per 14 is a scraper 35 of metal and rubbercovered which is fixed to shaft 20 by an arm 36. The scraper revolves close to the along one side thereof and in its ends.

inner surface of the hopper and in parallelism therewith.

The shaft 20 with the machine'elements carried thereby is rotated by any suitable driving mechanism. I have indicated a beveled gear 37 on the upper end of the shaft which meshes with a beveled gear 38 fixed to a shaft 39 provided with a belt pulley 40 and mounted in hearings on standards 41 on the top of the treating chamber.

The treating chamber is provided with an opening in the side which is closed by a door 42 held in place by fasteners 43.

Gas is supplied to the apparatus from a pipe 44 and air, under pressure, from a pipe 45. These pipes are united to a U-shaped siphon fitting 46, the arm 47 of which is connected to the gas pipe. Gas and air are mixed, the air drawing the gas into the fitting by a siphoning action. and the mixture is introduced into the treating chamber through hard rubber T or mixing and distributing pipe 48, the transverse member 49 of which is formed with perforations lloO 1e T is secured to the siphon fitting by means of a hard rubber nipple 51. In the arm 47 of the fitting 46 is a lead tube 52 which extends into and through th nipple 51 so that the air passing through the nipple around the lead tube produces the siphoning action noted.

0pemtz'0n.The flour is fed into the treating chamber in regulated quantities by means of the feeding auger 26 and falls upon the disk 29, from-which it is thrown outwardly against the ring 30 by centrifugal force. The ring 30 intercepts or baflles the flour, which falls through the treating chamber without contact with the wall thereof, at least to any appreciable extent. The possible sticking of the flour to the wall of the chamber is thereby prevented. The distributing wheel 32 gives additional agitation tothe flour so that more uniform treatment results. The treating gas is drawn into the fitting 46 from pipe 44 by the air forced under pressure into the fitting from pipe 45. Air and gas are mixed and enter the chamber directly below disk 29 and ring 30 through the distributing T 48, 49 which lsformed, as described, with a number of minute perforations, so that the diluted gas is diffused throughout the upper portion of the treating chamber in a uniformly mixed state. The gas is heavier than air and passes down through the chamber with the flour. The scraper 35 in the receiving hopper prevents the flour from sticking to the surface of the hopper. The treated flour is discharged from the apparatus by the auger 27 which as in the case of the upper auger 19, acts to seal the opening in which 1t rotates against the escape of gas- All of. the parts of the apparatus exposed to the action of the gas are composed, it will be observed of materials such as rubber, porcelain, enamel and asbestos which are unaffected by the gas.

The apparatus has been described and shown in a preferred embodiment, but it is realized that modifications might be made in the same, so far as details of construction are concerned, without departure .from the principles of the invention. This being so, I wish to be understood as covering by pat ent all of the modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for treating flour with a gaseous agent, the combination of a treating chamber, means for introducing the gaseous agent into the chamber, means for introducing the Hour into the upper part of the chamber, a rotating element upon which the Hour falls as it enters the chamber for distributing the same therein, and a cylindrical bafile ring spaced from the wall of said chamber surrounding said rotating element.

2. In apparatus for treating flour with a gaseous agent, the combination of a treating chamber, a feed chute for the flour extending into the top of the chamber, a shaft extending through the chute and chamber and means for rotating the same, a feeding device on said shaft, a distributing disk in said chamber fixed to the shaft below said feeding device, a positive discharging means on said shaft at the lower end of said chamber, and means for introducing the gaseous agent into said chamber.

3. In apparatus for treating flour with a gaseous agent, the combination of a treating chamber, a feed chute for the flour extending into the top of the chamber, a shaft extending through the chute and chamber and means for rotating the same, a feeding device on said shaft, a distributing disk in said chamber fixed to the shaft below said feeding device, a positive discharging means on said shaft at the lower end of said chamber, and means for introducing the gaseous agent into said chamber in fine jets directly below said distributing disk.

4. In apparatus for treating flour with a gaseous agent, the combination of a treating chamber, a feed chute forthe flour extending into the top of the chamber, a shaft extending through the chute and chamber and means for rotating the same, a feeding device on said shaft, a distributing disk in said chamber fixed to the shaft below said feeding device, means for introducing the gaseous agent into said chamber, and a cylindrical baffle ring surrounding said disk and spaced from the wall of the chamber.

5. In apparatus for treating flour with gaseous agent, the combination of a treating chamber, a feed chute for the flour extending into the top of the chamber, a shaft ex- ,tending through the chute and chamber-and means for rotating the same, a feeding deq vice on said shaft, a distributing disk in said chamber fixed to the shaft below said feeding device, means for introducing the a cylindrr gaseous agent intosaid chamber, cal baflie ring surrounding said disk and spaced from disk and ring. 1 c

6. In apparatus for treating flour with a gaseous agent, the combination of a treating chamber, a feed chute for the flour extending into the top of the chamber, a shaft extending through the chute and chamber and means for rotating the same, afeeding device on said shaft, a distributing disk in said chamber fixed to the shaftbelow said feeding device, means for-introducing the gaseous agent into said chamber, a cylindrical baflle ring from the wall of the chamber and a spoked wheel on said shaft below said disk.

7. In apparatus for treating flour with a gaseous agent, the combination of a treating chamber, a feed chute for the flour extending into the top of the chamber, a shaft extenda ing through said chute and chamber and means for rotating the same, a feeding device on said shaft, a distributin disk in said chamber which is fixed to t e shaft below said feeding device and a means for mixing gas and air in regulatable quantities and distributing same beneath said disk through a plurality of minute discharge orifices.

8. In apparatus gaseous agent, the combination of a treating chamber, ':a feed chute-for the flour extending into the to of the chamber, a shaft extending throug means for rotating the same, a feeding auger on said shaft at the mouth of the said chute, a discharging auger on said shaft at the bottom of said chamber, a distributing disk in said chamber fixed to'said shaft below said feeding device and means for introducing the gaseous agent into said chamber.-

9. In apparatus for treating flour with a gaseous agent, the combination of a treating chamber, means for introducing the gaseous treating agent in a diffused state into-the chamber, said chamber being formed at its; upper and lower ends respectively with flour inlet and outlet spouts open fromend to end,

a shaft extending through said chamber and spouts, feeding augerson said shaft arranged to, provide," vvith the flour, sealing means for said spouts, and meanson said shaft for distributing the flour so that it falls in a'dispersed condition through the gaseous agent,

10. In apparatus for treating flour with a gaseous agent, the combination of a treating chamber having flour inlet and outlet spouts at its upper and lower ends respectively, a

the wall of the chamber, and a distributing element on the shaft below said surrounding said disk and spaced for treating flour with a said chute and chamber and shaft extending to said'chamber and through said spouts, feeding angers on said shaft in said spouts, a distributing disk onsaid shaft below and spaced from said upper spout, a baffle ring surrounding said disk and spaced from the wall of said chamber, and means for introducing the treating agent in a diffused state below said disk. I

' '11. In apparatus for treating flour with a gaseous agent, the combination of a treating chamber having flour inlet and outlet spouts at its upper and lower ends respectivjly, a shaft extending to said chamber and th ough said spouts, feeding angers on said shaft in said spouts, a distributing disk on said shaft below and spaced from said upper spout, a bafiie ring surrounding said disk and spaced from the wall of said chamber, means for introducing the treating agent in a diffused state below said disk and a distributing wheel on said shaft substantially midway between the ends of the chamber.

12. In apparatus for treating flour with a gaseous agent, the combination of a treatin chamber formedat the bottom with a conica collecting hopper having a discharge spoutopen from end to end, means for introducing flour and a gaseous treating agent into ,the

upper part of said chamber, a rotary flour discharging device in said discharge opening which with the flour provides the only means for sealing the opening against the escape of gas, and a rotary scraper which moves over and near the inner wall of said hopper.

gaseous agent, the combination of a treating chamber, means for showering flour therethrough and means for introducin a mixi i ing hopper provided with a discha g p ing, a feed chute projecting into the top of said chamber, a shaft extending through said chamber and feed hopper and means for rotating the same, feeding an ers fixed to said shaft and arranged one in t e bottom of the feed chute and the other in the discharge opening of the collecting hopper,'a

distributing disk on said shaft directl low said first specified feeding auger, abafile ring surrounding said disk and spaced from.

the wall of said chamber, a distributing wheel on said shaft substantially midway;

between the ends thereof, a scra er on the lower end of said shaft'adapte to rotate close to said collecting hopper, gas and air supply pipes, a U-shaped siphon fitting with 13. Inapparatus for treating flour with a which said pipes are connected and a perforated distributing element in said chamber below said disk and ring which is connected with said siphon fitting.

15. In apparatus for treating flour with a gaseous agent the combination of a treating chamber, means for showering flour therethrough, and means for introducing gas and air into the chamber comprising a fitting having branches, one for connection with an air conduit and the other for connection with a gas conduit, a tubular distributing member in said chamber, and a tube of noncorrosible material which extends through the gas branch of said fitting and into said distributing member and is of smaller diameter than the latter so that the air passing into said member draws gas thereinto by a siphoning action.

16. In apparatus for treating flour with a gaseous agent, the combination of a treating chamber, means for showering the flour therethrough and means for introducing a mixture of inert gas and treating gas into the chamber comprisin a mixing and distributing nozzle forme with a plurality of outlet perforations, a conduit for the treating gas leading to and projecting partway through and spaced from the wall of said mixing and distributing nozzle and means for introducing an inert gas under pressure into the mixing and distributing nozzle so that it flows around and along the projecting part of said conduit to draw the treating gas into said mixing and distributing nozzle and force the mixture of treating gas and inert gas out of said perforations.

RUSSELL H. GUERRANT. 

